BJP circulates hate videos to vitiate atmosphere before polls: Akhilesh

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused the BJP of resorting to its old practice of circulating hate crime videos on social media to vitiate the atmosphere before the 2027 assembly elections.Akhilesh's comments came in reference to the videos of Badaun incident flooding the social media in which a man is purportedly seen assaulting three people, including an old man, hurling objectionable remarks at them referring to their religious identity.
The victims were identified as local Muslims and the accused as a Bajrang Dal activist.Asked to comment on the incident at a press conference at SP headquarters in Lucknow, Akhilesh cautioned the people to beware of the BJP. "BJP se savdhan rahiyega. Social media par jaan boojh kar dalte hain ki nafrat phaile. Jaan boojh kar is tarah ke video chalayenge election se pehle, 2014 mein bhi farzi video chalaye gaye the (Beware of the BJP. They will deliberately circulate videos on social media which spread hatred. They circulate such videos intentionally before polls. In 2014 too, such videos were circulated)," Akhilesh said.He cited instances of 2014 when provocative videos were circulated on WhatsApp groups claiming that the videos were of local incidents."In 2014. members of an ‘unregistered organisation' (apparently referring to the RSS) lured and accompanied Muslim men to throw pieces of meat at a temple leading to riots. In the investigations that followed, 18 people of the BJP spent over a year in jail," he recalled.The SP chief said such instances were being pushed to overshadow other incidents like the death of a child who fell into a drain in Gorakhpur.On the issue of FIR under POCSO Act against Swami Avimukteshwaranand, Akhilesh said it was being done to humiliate the seer. "Instead of punishing the police and administrative officials who disrespected the seers and assaulted their disciples, the BJP has chosen to rake up an old case against the Shankaracharya," he said.He also took a dig at the deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak for honouring ‘Batuks' questioning why no action was taken when ‘Batuks' were pulled by their ‘shikhas' in Prayagraj."There can be differences of opinion but one should not go to this extent," Akhilesh said, referring to the FIR against the seer. Akhilesh cited media reports which suggested that the complainant is the disciple of another seer who has been up in arms against Swami Avimukteshwaranand."If the complainant is a disciple of the other seer, then I committed a mistake when I withdraw a case of fraud against the seer," Akhilesh remarked, apparently referring to an instance when he was the CM.Bring 100 MLAs to become CM, offer open for a week: AkhileshTaking a jibe over speculations of internal differences within the BJP, SP president Akhilesh Yadav again said that if any of the deputy chief ministers comes with 100 party MLAs, SP will support him to become the chief minister."The offer is open for the next one week. Whoever can come with 100 MLAs, SP will make him the CM," Akhilesh said, perhaps in lighter vein.Akhilesh had made a similar offer in December 2022 when he offered the same kind of support following speculations of rift among the BJP's top leaders in govt.